Bunker Hill Community College Will Tweet to Recruit
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Community Center for Entrepreneurship (CCE) at Bunker Hill Community College has won a third grant from the Coleman Foundation in as many years. Founded with a Coleman grant in 2008, the CCE will use this 2010 grant for $7,500 to apply the social networking technologies of tweeting and blogging to strengthen ties with high school students seeking to study entrepreneurship in college.
“The grant increases the connection between the high school students and their mentors at BHCC,” said Dean of Professional Studies Bogusia Wojciechowska, who oversees the entrepreneurship program. “This communication is essential in helping these students make the transition from high school to college.” Charlestown High School, Boston’s Quincy Upper School and Malden High School have completed agreements enabling students to earn college credits toward a business degree or an entrepreneurship certificate. BHCC plans to make agreements with up to ten more high schools this fall.
“The competition has become one of the most anticipated parts of our annual conference,” said Heather Van Sickle, executive director of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE). “Sixteen finalists gave a three-minute, in-person pitch to foundation representatives at our conference. Out of those 16 invited to pitch, 10 received grants.” NACCE announced the winners at its October conference.
The CCE runs speaker programs and workshops. Over the past year, BHCC has developed an entrepreneurship option within the associate degree in business as well as a Certificate in Entrepreneurship. As part of its celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 16-20), on Friday, November 20th the College will co-sponsor a collaborative event with the Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA). This event will feature a YEA Teen Business presentation, introduce students to local business representatives, and provide a business mixer luncheon.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts, enrolling approximately 18,000 students annually. BHCC has two campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, and a number of other locations throughout the Greater Boston area. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-five percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls nearly 600 international students who come from 94 countries and speak more than 75 languages.